March Pest of the Month: Ants
This month we are focusing on ants.
There are eleven thousand ant species worldwide however the most common ant in the UK is the garden ant (Lasius niger). Garden ants are dark brown/ black in colour and approximately 5 mm in size. When you spot a single ant, it is unlikely to be alone. They are social insects and live in colonies that can have up to 15,000 individual ants! As their name suggests, garden ants live outside, building nests on lawns, in the soil, beneath paving and pots, in flower beds and at the base of walls. These insects can be a nuisance when enjoying picnics but they quickly become pests when they enter the home or cause damage to garden features. Home remedies may temporarily relieve your property from ants, however, if they are persistent the technicians at Urban Pest Control are always happy to offer their expert advice and recommendations for a permanent solution to your ant issue.
Interesting facts about ants:
- Ant colonies have three types of ants
- The queen – twice the size of worker ants, the queen ant is founder of the colony and lays all of the eggs.
- Female workers – look after the queen, eggs and larvae as well as gather food and make the colony bigger.
- Male ants – also called drones, like queens they have wings but they are smaller than female workers, their only job is to mate with queen ants when they leave the nest.
- Ants don’t have ears; they feel vibrations from the ground through their feet.
- They communicate with other ants by using their antennae.
- Ants can lift up to 20x their body weight.
- The warm weather will determine when flying queens appear from the colony to look for a mate. After mating the male ant dies whilst the queen chews off her wings and searches for new sites to nest.
How to recognise you have an ant issue:
- You may notice small heaps of soil in your lawn. Occasionally these raised piles of soil knock over plant pots causing breakages. Ant nests also damage plant roots depriving them of much needed water.
- You may see live insects making ant pathways or notice flying ants during warmer weather and mating season, unlike other pests ants do not hide away from people.
How to prevent ants:
- Clean up any food mess – Wipe surfaces to remove sticky residue, food crumbs and other food sources that may attract them.
- Proper food storage – Store food, especially those with high sugar or protein content, in airtight containers.
- Prevent entry – Seal off any potential entrance ways and cracks which ants may be able to use to enter your home.
- Speak to the experts – If you have exhausted home remedies and ants are still causing upset then it’s time to call a professional.
Although ants do not carry diseases themselves, they do walk over dirty areas to get to sweet offerings and can then pick up salmonella and E-coli from the soil. When an ant finds food, it will lay a scent trail (pheromone) to its nest for other workers to follow to find the food source with ease. Before long, the area becomes a site of significant ant activity. At Urban Pest Control we understand the impact this can have, especially at commercial premises. An ant infestation is highly unsightly as well as a potential source of disease, so it is definitely in your best interests to have it taken care of without delay.
Having your business associated with ants and other pests will often lead to a bad reputation and reduced business levels. We fully appreciate the need for discretion and are committed to using discrete, effective methods which minimise the impact on your business. This includes carrying out a thorough site inspection to find points of entry, food sources and harbourage as well as carefully placing ant bait stations along trails to eradicate the ant problem.
By using professional pest controllers like Urban Pest Control you will benefit from the peace of mind that any pest removal services will be carried out properly and to the highest standard. We are part of the Trading Standards Buy With Confidence scheme as well as qualified to RSPH level 2 in pest management, which allows us to use insecticides and carry out treatments that adhere to COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2002.
Professional Ant Control Services
Should you like to know more about Urban Pest Control and our comprehensive range of emergency pest control services please visit our social media channels or check our Google reviews to see what previous customers have been saying about us. To learn more about garden ants or if you need help to solve your pest issue in Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch, Weymouth, Dorchester or the surrounding areas please do not hesitate to contact us.
